Dave Godin in Llandudno - Blues and Soul Issue 82 -1972

Site note article updated 2023 , text format added.

Dave Godin column including his account of visiting Paynes Cafe Royal while on holiday in Llandudno back in 1972

As you can read part of the article features his account of a holiday visit to Llandudno where he stumbles across Paynes weekly event.

Dave Godin in Llandudno - Blues and Soul Issue 82 -1972

Easter this year came as a chance to escape the City for a few days,  and so I repaired to Llandudno m North Wales for a much needed rest and recuperation. There. I thought. I shall be isolated from the things which seem to take up so much of my time- Soul, and Blessed Celluloid.

However, I was to be proven happily wrong on the Soul score at least, because on the train leaving London I started to read the new issue of "Blues & Soul" which l'd not yet had time to examine fully, and there was an advert for the Soul disco at Llandudno's Cafe Royal! It was too good a co-incidence to pass up!

The Cafe Royal (rather like the vegetarian guest house I was staving at) is rather faded and has obviously seen better days. Gone are the idyllic afternoons when the bright young things of the town would take afternoon tea with their chaperones and dance to a string quartet set in palms and aspidistras whilst waitresses dressed in black with lace aprons served tea-cakes and sandwiches. The whole décor is like a luxurious chocolate box, and in the ceiling above the dance floor a huge oval opening would have allowed others to sit and watch the dancers below them.

Had the staid patrons of The Cafe Royal at the turn of the century seen Saturday night's carryings-on, they'd pass right out. Loud, vibrant and dynamic Soul sounds flooded the chandeliers and cherubs, and the dance floor was given over to young people letting it all hang out '72-style!

The DJ Dick Collins. has a good collection of favourites old and new, and he certainly shuffled them with skill and agility. But to create any sort of a good disco, not only do you need a good DJ, but you also need the right people, and although perhaps not so numerous as in other regions, the Soul clan of Llandudno certainly know their stuff. People like Dave Gillett who is cool and together and who is as into Soul as anyone I've ever met. He lives Soul, and more importantly, he feels it. Then there was Mally Davies who is so full of life and vitality and a generous enthusiasm that positively bubbles all around him. Then Lawrence Jones who gets about all over the place in his pursuit of good Soul, and who was dancing on the floor until the very end. Then there was king of the back-drops John Roberts bringing the dancing styles of The Wheel into the place with an athleticism and speed that would surely win him a prize in any dance contest. And Mike Williams, and Norman Gardner, lan Howard who had travelled up from Southport with his mate and Lawrence's Linda from Betws-y-Coed, and so many others who introduced themselves and who are part of the "Blues & Soul" family.

The Cafe Royal is certainly worth a visit, and with people like these brothers and sisters helping to get it together, I think that in time it could well pass over into legend. But in any case. they're really working on it, and to each and everyone of you my personal thanks for your warm and kindly welcome.

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Better late than never I suppose, but one cannot help the stray cynical thought crossing one's mind when you see that Chess have at last issued Joy Lovejoy's "In Orbit". Unlike companies like Mojo, President and a few others, Chess have a poor track record of listening to what we would like to have issued, and so don't for one second think that Joy Lovejoy's super­ side has been issued in order to please us. or because Chess over here have any love for Soul music. It's been issued to make money, pure and simple, an accordingly I hope their opportunism is treated with the contempt it deserves. And the same applies to Probe and their Sapphires' outing.

'Keep The Faith' is a well-known expression that defies precise definition, but over the years gallant little President have done just that. and now they have excelled themselves with their three-volume set "Keep The Faith" which is so good as to almost be beyond praise. What they have in fact done is select 36 of the finest sides from the President, Jay-Boy labels, and put them all together on this bargain priced LP set. Such is the quality of this collection that a mere mention of some of the titles will serve as praise and recommendation enough.

Volume One (Joy JOYS 223) has  Jackie Lee's The Shotgun & The Duck, Alvin Cash The Philly-Freeze, Terry Lindsey's li'« Over, The Olympics' Baby, Do The Philly Dog, The Belles 'Don't Pretend, and more . . .!

Volume Two has Billy Preston's BIIy's Bag, The Witches & The Warlock's Behind Locked Doors, Jackie Lee's The Duck Viola Wills' I've Got To Have All Of You, Slim Harpo's Tip On in and more... !

Volume Three (can you still take it all?) has Richard Temple's That Beatin' Rhythm, Jackie Lee's Do The Temptation Walk, Bob & Earl's Harlem Shuffle, McKinley Mitchell's The Town I Live In, Willie Parker's I Live The Life I Love, The Furys What Is Soul, Jackie Lee's Would You Believe, and more .

And everyone is a good one, and what a bargain price!  Now this really is a service to Soul people and I've just got to give an official Seal of Approval to each volume. Taken individually each LP is a stunner, but no doubt like me, you'll want to have all three. They are dripping with that uptempo super-optimistic Soul sound that signifies so much . and then some, and if you're a dancer or a dreamer, (or a bit of both) you'll find your imagination strung out over these wonderful tracks. and your heart beating along inside them.

Certainly one of the finest and most thought­ out compilations ever assembled, and I hope sincerely that all three albums sell by the cart­ load. No Soul fan should be without them, and we should all give a hearty vote of thanks to the fellows at President for getting such a super selection together. Utter brilliance so get and listen to them. The numbers of the other volumes are Joy JOYS 224 and JOYS 225. In my opinion the finest value in Soul albums of all time. So there!

Taking a leaf from Tammi Lynn's cookery page last edition, I'm tempted to concluded with my recipe for a good wholesome nut-roast but perhaps not!

Until next time then, Keep the faith (and this time President have provided all the background sounds you need), and right on brothers and sisters.

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Lyric Turn-Un of the fortnight
ALL IN MY MIND
Words & Music by Brown, Johnson. Kirkland
Recorded by Maxine Brown (London-American 1960)

l think that you don't care.
And it's more than I can bear.
I don't know baby,
Maybe it's all in my mind.
I know that l've been true,
But honey, sweetie, baby,
What about you?
I don't know baby,
Maybe it's all in my mind.
We've been going steady so long.
I never dreamed you could ever do me wrong.
I knew I was yours,
And I thought you were mine.
And every little thing seemed so fine.
Darling, I hate to see,
Someone else with you,
Other than me
I don't know baby,
Maybe it's all in my mind
All in my mind. Oh yes
... I don't mean to think so mean and evil baby,
Please tell me it's all in my mind. . . .

(It seems incredible that this record is now  twelve years old, but like all true Soul classics, the passing of time does nothing to diminish its stature as the record of a certain moment in time. So perfectly does it capture the mood and spirit of the true underground minority of that time, that this is precisely why it is never mentioned by latter-day apostles of "Rock"  -they missed it, and never caught up with it, and Soul music (being much like love) is like a fried egg - it must be eaten at the time and cannot be put into a warm oven to keep for later. The melody, the arrangement were all so ahead of their time on this side that it still sounds like it was cut yesterday. That is the power and the glory of Soul which will always survive its imitators, copyists and plagiarists. And it's just another part of the dues you pay for being black... and thats a fact! 

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